French is one of Canada’s official languages, and especially in a city like Ottawa with a large francophone and bilingual population, it should be no surprise that your child could stand to benefit from learning French. If you’re still not convinced, here are five reasons why:
French is the easiest of all secondary languages to learn
Though you may have been told that Spanish is the easiest of all the secondary languages for English language speakers to learn, nothing could be further from the truth.
French is hands down the easier of the two, and the easiest of almost all other languages you’ll have the opportunity to learn today. English is a bit of a cross between German and French, and it has stolen much of its language directly from the French – even though the phrasing and pronunciation have changed over the years.
Learning French makes it even easier to learn Spanish
While English is a hybrid between French and German, French and Spanish both Romance language. This means that it is a lot easier to pick up Spanish after you have already learned to speak French. If you already know French, you’re going to be able to almost effortlessly transition into Spanish (after you learn the vocabulary, anyway).
French is still one of the most important languages in the world
This should be surprising to no one in Canada and especially in Ottawa, but French is a very important language. According to the 2011 Census, more than 7,000 people in Canada speak French, about 21% of the population. An estimated 220 million people worldwide speak French, and it is an official language in 29 countries around the globe.
Chinese and Russian “unlocks” after learning French
One of the amazing things about the French language is that it acts as a solid foundation for so many other world languages, including two of the most difficult to learn – Chinese (and all of its different dialects) and Russian. If you want to get a head start on those two backbreakers, grab French to begin with.
50% of the top 10 fastest-growing countries in the world have French as an official language
Even though the Chinese are absolutely exploding as far as a world power is concerned, 50% of the top 10 fastest-growing countries in the world are using French as their official language. Understanding French is going to give your child a tremendous advantage in their career later on.
